


The Five Stages of Falling in Love with Your Best Friend

by astralfreckles



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-16
Updated: 2016-05-16
Packaged: 2018-06-08 17:23:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6866056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astralfreckles/pseuds/astralfreckles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"He imagines this is what it feels like to listen to your favorite song, but all of the sudden one day you hear a different message. All of the sudden, you hear something totally new. It’s one of those songs that you want to listen to over and over again as if you’re trying to drown yourself in it. He’s looking at Riley, the Riley he’s known almost all of his life, but it feels like a totally new experience. There’s something he’s never seen before, and this something makes him feel a little nauseous, out of breath, and shaky. So, either this is a side effect from a non-existent prescription drug he’s taking, or he’s falling in love with his best friend."</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Five Stages of Falling in Love with Your Best Friend

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a little Farkle-centric because I tried to write it in a way that expresses how he is feeling more so than Riley. 
> 
> Please be aware that this does contain some, in my opinion "light", sexual situations toward the end of the story. I tried to stay true to the characters and how they act/what they would be comfortable with, so I hope that shows. 
> 
> The lyrics used at the beginning of the story are from James Bay's "Move Together". It's such a great song, so go check it out if you're interested! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!

1\. Curiosity

It’s autumn, and they’re taking a weekend trip upstate. Lucas and Maya have been dating since college started a few weeks ago, so they sit together on the train. Farkle slides into another pair of seats with Riley. She’s actually one of the only people he doesn’t mind being crammed into a small space with, and they have similar taste in music, so it’s always a good ride.

As they settle into their seats, Riley is reminded of something funny she wants to tell the couple. She looks back at them, ready to blurt out her joke, just as Maya lets out a loud laugh that gets muffled in Lucas’s neck. Lucas laughs with her and instinctively nuzzles his nose into her hair. They look content, but Riley’s face goes blank as she watches them.  

Riley turns back to face forward in her seat and tilts her head to look at Farkle. She’s a little startled to see he’s already looking at her with a concerned look on his face. She lets out a sigh that’s louder than she intended and then shrugs with a smile on her face. Luckily, her smile appeases him for the time being and his expression softens.

“It’s going to take a while to get there. Did you want to listen to something?” Farkle suggests.

“Sure. Let’s use your music this time,” Riley says, and Farkle hands her his phone and one side of his headphones. She searches through his playlists and comes across his recently added music as she puts the earbud in her ear.

“You added new songs and didn’t share them with me yet? How could you?” Riley teases.

Farkle smirks and replies, “I just added them last night. _I_ haven’t even listened to them!”

“That reminds me. Maya recommended some movies for me to watch. Marathon this weekend?”

“Of course.”

Riley lays her head on Farkle’s shoulder, and he looks down at her for a few moments before resting his head on hers. He wishes it was easier to ignore the tingling feeling in his shoulder where Riley is leaning on him.

The sun shining through the windows and the soft melodies of the songs are creating a sleepy setting on the train. Somewhere in between songs, Riley had moved her body to face more toward Farkle, and apparently, Farkle hadn’t even realized that he’d been slowly tracing circles on her knee. He comes back to consciousness only when she shudders and jolts her knee away slightly.

“Sorry,” she whispers as she laughs. Farkle can feel her breath on his neck. “It tickles.”

Farkle opens his mouth to say something, but then a new song starts playing. Riley burrows into his neck more, as if trying to find somewhere else deeper to go, and he readjusts his head as well. She’s so close to him. As the lyrics go through his head, he wonders if she can smell his cologne.

_“How we gonna move together? Just come closer.”_

The slow burn of the song makes Farkle hyper aware of how he’s trying to control his breathing, and suddenly he feels like there’s not enough air on the train. It’s that feeling of listening to a song for the first time and noticing the uncanny way in which the lyrics are too relatable. That, plus Riley’s hand suddenly resting on his thigh, is making him feel more than a little dizzy. Her hand is lightly grasping at the denim of his jeans for some reason, and Farkle has to do something about it before his heart beats its way out of his chest.

“Riley?” It’s a whisper, not nearly loud enough for her to actually hear him.

He thinks she has to be half-asleep. She can’t possibly be completely awake, because she turns her head so her face is pressed against his neck, breathes in and out and few times, and then ever so slightly lays a kiss below his jawline. Farkle wouldn’t believe it if he didn’t feel it on his own skin. He holds in a gasp because he remembers their best friends are only a few feet away, so he lets his tension out in one quick breath instead. As he turns his head to face Riley, she lifts hers, and their eyes meet. Their faces are so close that Farkle feels cross-eyed. He can only describe what he’s feeling now as anticipation, but he’s not sure exactly what he’s expecting to happen.

He imagines this is what it feels like to listen to your favorite song, but all of the sudden one day you hear a different message. All of the sudden, you hear something totally new. It’s one of those songs that you want to listen to over and over again as if you’re trying to drown yourself in it. He’s looking at Riley, the Riley he’s known almost all of his life, but it feels like a totally new experience. There’s something he’s never seen before, and this something makes him feel a little nauseous, out of breath, and shaky. So, either this is a side effect from a non-existent prescription drug he’s taking, or he’s falling in love with his best friend.

“Hey, are you guys seeing this scenery?” shouts Maya in an excited tone. They’re both startled out of the moment by the sudden voice, still wide eyed and confused. Riley sits up with a start, and Farkle sees the exact moment she forces a goofy smile on her face to not alert anyone of what just happened. But, what _did_ just happen?

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Riley responds, but Farkle knows she’s just pretending to follow along with the conversation, because the only scenery they’ve been exploring is each other.

As Maya and Riley continue talking, Farkle sighs as he lets his head fall back to the seat and stares up at the ceiling. He feels like he needs a cold shower, but a long stretch will have to do for now.

 

2\. Realization

New Year’s Eve always brings the onset of reflections and resolutions, but sometimes it’s also filled with revelations.

Farkle’s standing in the middle of a living room at a friend’s house party. There’s a girl by his side, Sophie from his theater appreciation course, who he’s been talking to on and off all night while Riley and Maya have been mingling with some other people they know. Sophie smiles at his attempted jokes, and he maintains a serious expression as she explains the struggles she faced throughout the past semester. As the conversation topic changes to their shared class, Farkle starts going on and on about the thematic elements of _Pippin_. She’s listening as he enthusiastically talks about his favorite musical, but then he sees the moment her expression changes.

At first, Farkle doesn’t register the meaning behind the look she’s giving him, but when she moves her face closer to his, he understands. And he doesn’t feel totally compelled to move away. Sophie stands on her tip toes and place a quick kiss on Farkle’s lips just as Riley comes through the archway to find him. Riley’s eyes widen and she stops breathing. She immediately tries to turn back around before anyone sees and goes out the front door, but Farkle sees her. He sees her out of the corner of his eye because he can always sense when she’s around, and he always knows where Riley is in relation to himself. He sees how uncomfortable Riley looks and something breaks inside of him. He doesn’t mean to be rough, but he’s so shocked that he lightly pushes Sophie away.

The people in the room start counting down from thirty and getting their noisemakers out. Farkle looks to Sophie and then to the door. It feels like everything slows down, and he swears his heart stops as he impulsively heads for the door. He doesn’t even hear Sophie calling his name because he keeps repeating in his head _Riley needs me._

Farkle opens the door harsher that he means to, because damn if an upset Riley doesn’t turn him into a mess of a person too. Riley is sitting on the top stair, tears falling from her eyes. She looks up with surprise and guilt written on her face, and he responds wordlessly with a worried look. He sits down next to her as they hear the crowd scream “ten” inside, and his arm wraps around her shoulder. Riley’s lets her head fall to his shoulder as they hear the people inside chant and blow their noisemakers when it hits twelve o’clock.

Farkle turns his head so his lips are against her hair and sadly whispers, “Happy New Year.” His heart practically skips a beat when he feels Riley’s hand reach for his, and his fingers naturally intertwine with hers. He feels like he can’t breathe, but he chalks the reason up to leaving Sophie by herself instead of the feeling of Riley’s hand in his.

 

3\. Experimentation

They’re sitting on Riley’s dorm room bed, pretending like whatever has been happening between them isn’t a big deal. The room has stayed mostly silent because they only talk when they share their homework answers. Farkle thinks he catches Riley staring at him a few time, but she always quickly looks back down at her textbook before he can make eye contact with her. It’s only when they get to a particularly hard calculus problem that Riley breaks the silence and poses a question.

“Farkle, you like experiments, right?”

“Of course.”

“Can you help me with one?”

“For your science class? Definitely! What is it…Biology? Chemistry?”

He watches as she bites her lip and then says, “It’s a little bit of both, I suppose.” After hesitating for a few seconds, she leans across their scattered textbooks to position herself right in front of him. With her mouth slightly open, she leans forward and just stares at him. Finally, she brushes her nose against his as her eyes go half-lidded. When her parted lips lightly touch his, Farkle involuntarily lets out a gasp, and Riley is startled back out of her own spell.

“I’m s-sorry,” she stammers, losing her nerve. Farkle thinks he sees a tear roll down her cheek, but she turns her head too fast for him to know for sure.

Farkle’s so nervous he feels like he’s going to throw up. He can’t control the jumbled mess of thoughts going through his head.

_Does she want this? Does she want…us? It’s always been the two of us. We’ve always been able to talk without boundaries, able to express ourselves without fear. We’re right here, right now. It’s just me and her._

_This moment belongs to us._

Farkle haphazardly crosses the line of books on the bed separating them, completely disregarding the homework they should be doing.

He kneels in front of Riley with his head down. His eyes close as he inhales deeply, then they open as he exhales. He looks at her lips, but instead places a soft, lingering kiss to the side of her mouth. He tastes salt and the faint sweetness of cherry. _Must be from her lip gloss_ , he thinks.

Riley’s head is still tilted to the other side, so Farkle sits there, waiting, with his head leaning against her temple. After a few minutes, he feels her shift in his direction, so he mirrors her actions and realizes she’s so close. It takes the slightest movement forward from her for their parted lips to meet, and it takes all of Farkle’s confidence, and a pretty solid grip on the bed sheets, to lean forward even more and allow his lips to firmly press against hers.

The next time he goes to the supermarket, he buys enough cherries to last for weeks.

4\. Exploration

The last trace of the setting sun can be seen from Farkle’s dorm room window. It’s almost fully dark outside, but the strung up lights in his room illuminate the space around them just enough so they make out each other’s faces. Today was one of those days where Riley couldn’t bear saying goodbye just yet, so Farkle knows she finds comfort in just talking with him a little longer before the day has to end. When there’s a pause in their conversation, Riley takes the opportunity to change the topic.

“So, you’re my best friend and I trust you with everything, but there are still some things that we haven’t talked about because it’s kind of awkward.”

“What do you mean?” Farkle replies tiredly as he cards his fingers through his hair. He’s resting against the headboard of his bed with Riley’s head in his lap, listening to her but not fully catching on to the context of her words.

“Can we try something?” Riley nervously asks.

“…what kind of something?”

“This kind of something,” she answers as she lifts her head and climbs up into his lap to straddle his legs.

“Oh,” Farkle breathes. He shifts under her weight as he adjusts to the new feeling. He searches for her hand in the dark, but settles for grasping her wrist to show her that he is totally okay with this.

Riley places her hands on his chest and bends down slightly to kiss him. He meets her halfway, but her enthusiasm pushes him back toward the headboard. Their mouths move together like they were made for each other, all soft and lingering. She tastes like the gum he gave her after dinner, and every time her mouth opens against his, the freshness of it forces its way into his senses. He needs to pull back for a second to breathe, and he catches a glance of her. The lights surrounding them make it look like she’s glowing. His hand instinctively moves a strand of hair away from her eyes, but he doesn’t want to let it go, so he lightly twirls it in his fingers. Then, he tucks it behind her ear and her eyes close at his touch.

“Is this okay?” Riley whispers as her forehead falls to his.

Farkle tilts his face up so his mouth is moving against hers as he responds, “It’s most definitely more than okay.”

He holds her face in both of his hands and pulls her toward him into another kiss. With every breakaway, Farkle impatiently anticipates the return of her lips. His hands slide down to her waist as hers come up to wrap around his neck, but her nails accidentally graze the nape of his neck, making him shudder under her.

She pulls back and stares at him inquisitively. To Farkle’s surprise, she starts moving off of him. He furrows his brow, thinking he did something wrong, but then Riley grabs his shoulder and pulls him down with her as she lies on her back.

 _This is new_. This is new and nerve-racking and exhilarating. Farkle fidgets a little to rest on top of her more comfortably, and when he’s settled, Riley startles him with a kiss more intense than before. He pulls away to breathe and looks at her as if this is the most stunning thing to ever happen to him. He makes his way back to her lips but stops right before his meet hers. Instead, he tilts his head so his lips brush against her neck. It catches her off guard, and now she’s the one shuddering. That gives him the courage to press his lips more firmly there and take every effort to explore different spots on her neck.

He’s so wrapped up in his actions that he doesn’t hear Riley gasp, so he’s totally unprepared for the feeling of her hips pushing up against his after a particularly breathy kiss right below her ear. Farkle takes a sharp breath in and freezes. It’s too much, too overwhelming. He groans and quickly moves to lie beside her on the bed, avoiding eye contact the whole time.

“Farkle?” Her voice is full of apprehension.

“You said this might be awkward, and you were right. I’m sorry, Riley.”

“Do you not like it? We can stop if you want,” Riley says hastily.

“No! No. This is great. It feels good, actually too good. I just...”

Farkle doesn't finish his sentence, but he does try to subtly cross his legs. Riley’s face expresses concern, then confusion, then understanding. She can’t decide if this is more exciting because it’s new and it’s _them_ , or if it’s more terrifying for the same reasons.

Riley swallows hard and then climbs over Farkle so she is on the other side of him. Now that she’s facing him, he can’t avoid her gaze. Farkle feels her whole body suddenly press up against his, and she settles so her face is right in front of his. She uses her leg to nudge his apart and wedges it in between his knees. Farkle, in a daze, stares down at where their bodies meet then back up to Riley. He knows Riley must feel him pressing against her through his sweatpants, and it suddenly feels unbearably warm in his room. But her eyes are calm. They’re searching his for a reason not to find out what happens next. Well, Farkle’s always been excited to make new discoveries.

Her nervous breathing is shallow and his heartbeat is way too fast, and maybe they should be talking about this more, but they both stop thinking so much and instead let the desire coursing through their veins lead them into another kiss.

They move to position themselves as they were before with Farkle hovering over Riley. He keeps his gaze down on her as he licks his lips and lowers his body onto hers. He watches with fascination at Riley closing her eyes as a brief moment of pleasure washes over her. Then, Riley immediately responds with one light thrust up. Their gasps sound loud in his small room.

Farkle whispers, “Please…keep doing that.” Riley let’s out a breathy laugh at that, and Farkle replies with one as well as he nuzzles into her neck.

Riley was right. This is kind of awkward, but he’s positive that they’ll get over it somehow.

  

5\. Clarity

Riley and Farkle decide to do a late night study session at the student center. Finals are a little more stressful than they anticipated, so they thought it would be a good idea to tough it out and dedicate even more time to studying.

Farkle walks her home with his fingers tangled in hers, but there’s an odd feeling in the air that he can’t describe. When they get to Riley's dorm room, she hugs and kisses him goodnight, but she doesn’t let go of his hand.

Farkle tilts his head as if to ask if everything is alright.

“Can you stay, please?” she quietly pleads.

“Where’s Maya?”

“She went home for the weekend to visit her mom.”

He nods in understanding, and reassures her in a soft voice. “You know I’m always here for you.”

Farkle hesitates a little, and then sits on the floor as Riley moves toward her bed. He’s taking off his shoes when she comes back into view above him. She’s crouching at his feet with an extended hand. She looks tired, so he decides to just let her sweep him away tonight. He quickly takes off his shoes and allows her to guide him to the bed.

Riley tugs on the covers with her free hand and pulls Farkle into the bed with her. They're so exhausted they don't even bother changing out of their clothes. Laying his head on her pillow, Farkle unknowingly closes his eyes and takes a deep breath in as her scent washes over him. Jasmine and vanilla and _Riley_. Her room, her bed, her scent, _her_.

He opens his eyes a second later to find Riley staring at him. There’s something he can’t quite place about her tonight. This isn’t something he’s familiar with.

Farkle asks, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I think I’m just tired.”

“Try to get some sleep then.”

But she’s looking at him with those dark brown, captivating eyes, and there’s something in her stare that takes his breath away. His head comes up with a crazy thought: Maybe Riley doesn’t want to sleep just yet.

Just then, Riley clutches at the soft fabric of his sweatshirt, and hell if he doesn’t have a hypothesis about what that means. So, after taking a minute to adjust to the intense beating of his heart, he lets himself be entranced by those eyes of hers. Maybe it’s the stress of finals, or maybe it’s the excited feeling in the pit of his stomach knowing they will be alone in her room all night, but he feels like this is an important moment.

So kisses her. He kisses her with every moment they have ever shared flooding his thoughts: his orange turtleneck, her soft hair, Pluto, cherry lip gloss, the campfire, strawberry ice cream, her cheerleading outfit.

Riley’s mouth latches on to his the second they connect. It’s like his mind is on autopilot because he doesn’t remember giving his brain permission to lightly curl his foot around hers, instinctively making her body crave _closer_ and _more_. That’s when she moves so her body is flush against his, and without even a second to spare, Riley quietly gasped and Farkle’s breath hitches.

Their lips collide into each other again as the closeness shifts the atmosphere between them. Caught up in the moment, Farkle lightly pulls on Riley’s bottom lip with his teeth, and he must have done something right because she grasps the back of his neck with both her hands, trying to find something solid to keep her grounded. The way her fingers are stroking there makes him involuntarily shiver, and Farkle is so preoccupied with her mouth that he only slowly realizes this is starting to feel really nice. He makes the very not-so-scientific discovery that Riley has been ever so slightly moving her hips against his. Once his brain fully comprehends the situation, something inside him snaps and he has the most brilliant idea to take hold of her waist and pull her up over his body. Now connected in all the right places, he can’t help but sigh as his head falls back to the pillows.

They look at each other for a moment and take in what’s happening. Almost as if they discovered the exact same thing at the exact same time, they both let out a soft laugh and her head comes to rest on his shoulder. Farkle teasingly lifts his hips up to meet with hers, and all she can express from the immediate pleasure is a soft “hmm.”

In a low tone, Farkle admits, “Seems like we still have a lot to learn about this chemistry of your body wanting me, and mine wanting you.”

Riley whispers in response, “How was this not obvious before? How could we have gone so long without needing this?”

Farkle smiles and whispers back, “It’s the best discovery yet.”

They stay silent for a good long minute, trying to grasp the enormity of what their words mean. Then, Riley makes the first move to break the silence.

“Do you trust me?”

“Of course.”

“I want us to make one more discovery together.”

After all that had happened in the past, after all the times they dated other people and never truly _looked_ at each other, he can’t even believe he wanted something other than this. It’s like this was always meant to happen, like they were always meant to end up here in her room on this exact night.

A breath catches in Farkle’s throat when Riley lifts off and away from his body. He’s surprised by how much he immediately wants her back covering him, but whatever pity he was feeling for himself in that moment disappears because she’s is pulling her sweater over her head. Farkle lifts his body up with a start at the unexpected action and sits there stupefied, trying not to ignorantly stare at the lavender lace of her bralette. He’s always had the habit of trailing his eyes down her body then back up, and that’s exactly what he can’t help but do now. His eyes start locked with hers, then move to her neck, her shoulders, and her chest as he pauses and swallows. He shifts a little on the bed and then his eyes dart back up to Riley’s. She looks flustered, but not embarrassed. Her darkened eyes and slightly opened mouth make her arousal more obvious than before.

He doesn’t want to ruin the moment with his hands awkwardly fumbling over her chest or his mind struggling to express how beautiful she is to him, so instead he reaches out and runs his fingers through her hair, kisses the place in between her shoulder and neck, then silently follows her actions and removes his sweatshirt and t-shirt. It feels like an eternity to them, but they finally come together again, colliding as they meet each other in the middle.

They fall back toward her soft bed only to be fueled now with even more _I need this_. That exact feeling makes Farkle lift his hips up again to find hers, and oh yes he finds them, as is noted by her soft moan. But he lets Riley take the lead so he can close his eyes and just exist. Her hips sway left as his go right, and hers force their way down as his thrust back up. The friction is like nothing he’s ever felt, and he’d bet anything that it’s the same for Riley judging by the soft sighs she’s making after ever movement.

But then she stops again, and at this point Farkle, eyes half-lidded and thoughts muddled by lust, is about to protest in confusion. That is, until Riley hooks her finger into his pants, and well, there’s nothing confusing about that, is there?

“Oh god,” he breathes out. He’s nervous but excited, kind of panicky but so incredibly turned on. _That’s normal_ , he thinks, _right_?

As if she could read his mind, Riley whispers, “Oh hush, you’re perfect.”

She looks directly into his eyes, searching for approval, and finds it in the way his hands cover hers, guide them to undo his belt, and slide his pants off.

Farkle feels a little exposed as he lies there in just his boxer briefs, but the moment is fleeting because then Riley takes his hands in hers and places them on her hips just above her pants. He knows what to do because he is a genius after all. But no matter how many times he’s fantasized about a situation like this, theory, indeed, is very different from practice.

With his hands still on her hips, Farkle lays Riley down on her back. She lifts her body up as he slides her pants off. His hands lightly graze all the way down her legs, and he feels her tremble under his touch. He only catches a quick glimpse of her matching lavender underwear before he feels her hand softly grasp his shoulder. He pauses in fear that something is wrong, but she’s staring at him with those eyes again and he understands. He always does. He slowly crawls back up her body, and once his face is hovering right over hers, he looks directly into her eyes and lowers his body onto hers. They both moan softly, and he already has it ingrained in his memory that their hips connecting for the first time with so little between them is definitely the best thing he’s ever felt in his life. But then they start moving against each other again and he has to withdraw that previous thought.

Farkle doesn’t even have time to get used to this new position because Riley is pushing herself out of the confines of his body and guiding him to lie on his back. She straddles his legs and grinds down, and now Farkle just assumes her end goal is to set his blood on fire. His cheeks are flushed as he looks down at where their bodies connect. When he looks back up at Riley, he notices that she’s staring at the same place. A rush of pleasure suddenly overwhelms him, and he has to quickly close his eyes before it becomes too much.

Their rhythm stays natural as Riley lowers her whole body onto Farkle. She mewls when his lips graze her throat and then the side of her neck. It is far too much all at once, and he can barely get the words out to tell Riley.

“Riley, I’m...” the rest getting lost somewhere in his mind.

“I know, me too. Almost,” she says between heavy pants.

“Riley,” he unconsciously repeats, as if it’s the only word in his vocabulary.

They lock eyes and he’s gone, coming with a gasp stuck on his tongue, lips vibrating on Riley’s neck and toes curling as his body arches up. It must have been too much for her too because all of the sudden she clutches his whole body as if trying to hold on and turns her neck sharply to the side where Farkle’s lips are still connected. She comes right after him, head falling forward onto his shoulder and lightly trembling from the intensity of the feeling.

After they lie still for a few minutes, Riley lifts her head to look at Farkle. His brain can’t even come up with the words to express what he’s feeling, so he just whispers a soft _I love you_ in her ear and holds her to his chest, letting his calming heartbeat lull her to sleep.

The next morning, as Farkle gathers his things and says goodbye to Riley, he replays the previous night in his head over and over again. He can barely find strength in his legs to walk back to his room.

 

+1 Inevitability

A park bench creaks as the two of them sit down. Finals are over, and the school year is done. They get in one more trip to their favorite park before they make their way home to Greenwich Village. Farkle reaches out for Riley’s hand and finds it already extending to meet his. He stares out into the distance, watching people run, play, and laugh, as he addresses Riley.

“Riley, you know that I’m skeptical when it comes to the idea of destiny. But if fate is real, this is it. For me, it’s you.”

She chuckles, “Honestly, I think even fate is shocked by how perfect we are for each other.” He squeezes her hand, and Riley grabs his chin to direct his gaze at her as she continues, “You’ve got me. Completely.”

Farkle vows, “And you have me.”


End file.
